Read Online Luckstones by Madeleine E. Robins - Free Book Online Page A

bring the jewel home to its right owner.”
    A yelp from the left drew the leader’s attention for a
second; Col ha Vanderon had pinked Cheevie in the arm and taken his sword from
him. As Cheevie ran down the street, the soles of his boots flashing in the
torchlight, the leader turned back to Nyana.
    “The odds have changed,” she noted. “I think you should go
home.”
    “And face Jassie without nothing to show for it? Not likely.”
The leader brought his sword up in a circling motion, cutting for Nyana’s
shoulder, but she had already dropped to one knee and thrust her point deep
into the man’s underarm, the blade reappearing just below the shoulder. His
sword dropped, he screamed, and it was the work of several minutes to
disentangle her blade, wipe it down, confiscate the sword and bind the man’s
shoulder up so that he did not bleed to death on the way home.
    “There. You have something to show Jassie. Now, will you
please go?”
    Nyana and ha Vanderon watched as the leader walked heavily
away into the darkness. Then she turned to him.
    “My dagger, sir?”
    He handed her the dagger, which she slid at once into its
hanger.
    “And the Archangel.”
    Col ha Vanderon paused, calculation written upon his face.
    “A man who comes into the Dedenor without so much as a
penknife to defend himself is not the man who can best me in a fight,
particularly with an unfamiliar sword.” She nodded at Cheevie’s blade, which
dangled in his hand. “I think the necklace simply fell off, was discovered by
the maid at the Bronze Manticore, and offered by her to you. An unexpected
gain, but not worth dying for. Give me the Archangel, sir. Or raise your
weapon.”
    A moment more calculation, then Col ha Vanderon shrugged. “Right
on every count.” He slid his hand into his pocket and produced from it the
Archangel, large, blue, glittering. Nyana put it into her own pocket.
    “Well. Good night, sir.”
    ~o0o~
    Velliaune me Corse had chattered throughout dinner in
hopes of distracting her parents from the subject of the Archangel and now
found herself in the parlor, singing, “So Gently Dies the Woodland Doe,” for
their pleasure. At the song’s end, her maid whispered that Nyana me Barso was
waiting.
    As soon as she could depart from her parents’ beaming presence,
Velliaune joined Nyana in her bedchamber. The moment the door closed behind
her, she wheeled round.
    “Do you have it?”
    “It took longer than I had expected, but—” Nyana held the
Archangel out to her, “here.”
    Velliaune snatched the thing to her breast and held it
there. “Praises!” She vanished from the room. This time, Nyana had to wait only
a few minutes.
    “I have given the wretched thing back to my mother, and hope
never to wear it again!” She threw her arms around Nyana extravagantly. “Thank
you, thank you, thank you! You have—I cannot tell you—if my parents had learned . . .
I can breathe again!” Indeed, she felt as light as a breeze.
    “Well, then, there’s the matter of my payment.”
    Velliaune drew her head back. She had rather hoped Nyana
would forget the question of payment, but her expression suggested that this
was not likely. Gracelessly, she stepped away from Nyana, took up her purse,
and counted out twenty senesti .
    “Is that sufficient?” she asked sullenly.
    “Almost.” To Velliaune’s astonishment, Nyana me Barso
stepped forward and kissed her. It was no trivial embrace: her lips were soft
and seeking, and one hand tangled itself in Velliaune’s curls. After a moment
of surprise, Velliaune relaxed, and returned the kiss, her insides fluttering.
    It was Nyana who broke off the embrace.
    “There. Your debt is paid. All through school, I wanted to
do that, and now I have.”
    “All through school? But—” Velliaune held out a hand as if
to draw Nyana back. “You’re not going to kiss me like that and leave!”
    “I believe I am, Vellie. Have you learned nothing about the
wisdom of leaping into